Chow down on first City Arts Fest kicking off Wednesday in Seattle

As its name suggests, City Arts Fest covers a lot of ground artistically. The inaugural Heineken-sponsored festival Oct. 20-23 includes music, theater, dance, readings and recitals to satisfy a wide variety of tastes and sensibilities.

Landing in the middle of the very busy fall season – and on a month often dubbed “Rocktober” for its heavy load of live music – the 2010 City Arts Festival will turn Seattle into an all-you-can-eat buffet of arts and music events.

On Thursday, The Head and the Heart, Cat Power, The Maldives and Pat Graney’s “Faith Triptych” are featured. Friday’s schedule includes “Soliloquy: Timeless Language in the Present Tense” (Town Hall) and Dolls ‘n’ Guys (Century Ballroom), as well as James Carter and John Medeski, and The Vaselines.

Saturday’s lineup features “Poetry & Hip-hop Church: Saturday Service” (Washington Hall), as well as DJ Spooky and Joshua Roman, Big Boi, and a couple of “fireside chats” at the Sorrento Hotel’s Fireside Room.